'I haven’t been kissed under the mistletoe for years', says minister

Business Minister George Freeman says he has cancelled his in-person Christmas party with staff this year but said he did not want to be telling businesses what “they should or shouldn’t be doing” in terms of festive celebrations.

Asked what he made of Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey advising people to avoid “snogging under the mistletoe” this Christmas, business minister George Freeman joked with LBC radio: “I haven’t been kissed under the mistletoe for years.”

Freeman added: “We’re trying not to tell everyone who they should kiss or where they should go."

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